Swiss Court Says ProtonMail Isn't a Telecom; Isn't Obligated to Retain Data on Users
DannyB writes:
From TechDirt:Swiss Court Says ProtonMail Isn't A Telecom, Isn't Obligated To Retain Data On Users
Background:
ProtonMail offers encrypted email, something that suggests it's more privacy conscious than others operating in the same arena. But, being located in Switzerland, it's subject to that country's laws. That has caused some friction between its privacy protection claims and its obligations to the Swiss government, which, earlier this year, rubbed French activists the wrong way when their IP addresses were handed over to French authorities.
The problem here wasn't necessarily the compliance with local laws. It was Proton's claim that it did not retain this information. If it truly didn't, it would not have been able to comply with this request. But it is required by local law to retain a certain amount of information. This incident coming to light resulted in ProtonMail altering the wording on its site to reflect this fact. It no longer claimed it did not retain this info. The new statement merely says this info "belongs" to users and Proton's encryption ensures it won't end up in the hands of advertisers.
The news:
[...] these retention obligations that have been challenged. These obligations undercut earlier promises made by Proton to its users -- the ones that resulted in a rewrite of its privacy guarantees as well as its cooperation with French authorities.
Fortunately for ProtonMail and its users, surveillance of the service will go back to being more limited. The Swiss Federal Administrative Court has sided with Proton, finding that it is not a service provider under the definitions included in the data retention law.
Tools can be used for bad things. Therefore we must carefully monitor their use and users. Computers can be weapons. Just ask anyone who has been hit over the head by a laptop.
See Also:
ProtonMail Deletes 'We Don't Log Your IP' Boast From Website After French Climate Activist Reported
ProtonMail logged IP address of French activist after order by Swiss authorities
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